1. Field
The presently disclosed subject matter relates to vehicle signal lamps attached continuously to an openable and closable trunk lid and a part of a vehicle body, which is located adjacent the trunk lid, and more particularly relates to the vehicle signal lamps with a simple structure, which can emits light having a favorable light-intensity even from a space between the openable and closable trunk lid and the part of the vehicle body located adjacent the trunk lid.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicle signal lamps such as a tail lamp, a stop lamp, a turn signal lamp and the like are required to be attached to a rear right and left of vehicles so that drivers moving vehicles from a rearward direction of the vehicles can recognize driving conditions such as moving in a frontward direction of the vehicles, going to turn left, going to decrease speeds of the vehicles, etc. Such a conventional rear signal lamp is disclosed in Patent document No. 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid Open JP2012-123977).
FIG. 9a is a schematic rear view depicting a vehicle incorporating a first conventional rear signal lamp, and FIG. 9b is a schematic front view including a partial transparent view depicting the first conventional rear signal lamp to be incorporated into a rear right of the vehicle shown in FIG. 9a, which is disclosed in Patent document No. 1. The vehicle 20 includes: a vehicular body 21; an openable and closable trunk lid 22 attached to the vehicle body 21, the trunk lid 22 including a trunk knob 23 to open or close the trunk lid; and each of the rear signal lamp 30R and 30L be symmetrically attached to a rear right and left of the vehicle 20, respectively.
The rear signal lamp 30R, which is attached to the rear right of the vehicle 20, includes a first rear lamp 31A, a second rear lamp 31B and a boundary 39 located between the first rear lamp 31A and the second rear lamp 31B, as shown in FIG. 9b when the trunk lid 22 closes. When the trunk lid 22 opens, each of the first rear lamp 31A and the second rear lamp 31B may separate with respect to each other from the boundary 39, because the trunk lid 22 moves in an upward direction of the vehicle body 21.
The first rear signal lamp 31A includes: a first casing 32A; a first front lens 35A attached to the first casing 32A, extending toward the boundary 39 and bending in an inward direction of the boundary 39; a plurality of first light guides 33A located in the first casing 32A, extending toward the boundary 39 along the first front lens 35A; and a plurality of first light-emitting diodes (LEDs) 34A each located at a respective one end of the first light guides 33A located in an opposite direction of the boundary 39 so as to emit light toward the second rear signal lamp 31B via the respective one of the light guides 33A.
The second rear signal lamp 31B includes: a second casing 32B; a second front lens 35B attached to the second casing 32B, extending toward the boundary 39 and bending in an inward direction of the boundary 39; a plurality of second light guides 33B located in the second casing 32B, extending toward the boundary 39 along the second front lens 35B; and a plurality of second LEDs 34B each located at a respective one end of the first light guides 33B located in an opposite direction of the boundary 39 so as to emit light toward the first rear signal lamp 31A via the respective one of the second light guides 33B.
Hence, the first conventional rear signal lamp 30R may illuminate the boundary 39 by using the lights emitted from the first LEDs 34A via the respective one of the first light guides 33A and by using the lights emitted from the second LEDs 34B via the respective one of the second light guides 33B. Similarly, the first conventional rear signal lamp 30L, which is attached to the rear left of the vehicle 20, may also illuminate a left boundary caused between a first rear signal lamp and a second rear signal lamp of the rear signal lamp 30L.
However, the above-described first conventional lamp 30R needs the first plurality of light guides 33A and the second plurality of light guides 33B to illuminate the boundary 39, which coordinates with various signal lamps such as a tail lamp, a stop lamp, etc. Such a structure including the light guides may be subject to a complex configuration. Consequently, a second conventional rear signal lamp, which includes two light guides formed in a planar shape, is disclosed in Patent document No. 2 (Japanese Patent Application Laid Open JP2014-123547).
FIG. 10a is a schematic front view depicting a second conventional rear signal lamp, and FIG. 10b is a schematic partial cross-sectional top view of Circle C shown in FIG. 10a depicting the second conventional rear signal lamp, which is disclosed in Patent document No. 2. The second conventional rear signal lamp 40 includes a first rear lamp 41A, a second rear lamp 41B and a boundary 49 located between the first rear lamp 41A and the second rear lamp 41B, as shown in FIG. 10b. 
The first rear lamp 41A includes: a first casing 42A; a first front lens 43A attached to the first casing 42A, extending toward the boundary 49 and bending in an inward direction of the boundary 49; a first inner cover 44A formed in a planar shape, located between the first casing 42A and the first front lens 43A, and a longitudinal direction thereof extending toward the boundary 39 along the front lens 43A; a first light guide plate 46A having a first guide end and a second guide end formed in a planar shape, located between the first casing 42A and the inner cover 44A, a longitudinal direction thereof the extending toward the boundary 49 along the first front lens 43A, and the first guide end facing said bending portion of the first front lens 43A; a first light source 45A facing the second guide end of the first light guide plate 46A so that light emitted from the first light source 45A may be emitted toward the first front lens 43A via the first inner cover 44A by reflecting a part of the light on a rear surface of the first light guide plate 46A and also may be emitted toward the bending portion of the first front lens 43A by reflecting another part of the light on a front surface of the first light guide plate 46A.
The second rear lamp 41B includes: a second casing 42B; a second front lens 43B attached to the second casing 42B, extending toward the boundary 49 and bending in an inward direction of the boundary 49; a second inner cover 44B formed in a substantially planar shape, located between the first casing 42B and the second front lens 43B, and bending along the boundary 49, and a longitudinal direction thereof extending toward the boundary 39 along the second front lens 43B; a second light guide plate 46B having a second guide end 46BE formed in a substantially planar shape, located between the second casing 42B and the second inner cover 44B, a longitudinal direction of the second light guide plate 46B extending toward the boundary 39 along the second front lens 43B, and the second guide end 46BE facing said bending portion of the second front lens 43B via the bending portion of the second inner cover 44B; a second light source 45B facing another second guide end of the second light guide plate 46B located in an opposite direction of the second guide end 46BE so that light emitted from the second light source 45B may be emitted toward the second front lens 43B via the second inner cover 44B by reflecting a part of the light on a rear surface of the second light guide plate 46B and also may be emitted toward the bending portion of the second front lens 43B via the second inner cover 44B by reflecting another part of the light on a front surface of the second light guide plate 46B.
Hence, the second conventional rear signal lamp 40 may emit lights from the first front lens 43A and the second front lens 43B in rearward directions of vehicles incorporating the rear signal lamp 40, and also may emit lights from the bending portion of the first and the second front lenses 43A and 43B toward the boundary 49. Additionally, Patent document 2 discloses that light emitted from a third light source 45C attached to the second casing 42B may also be emitted toward at least the boundary 49 by reflecting the light on the rear surface of the second light guide plate 46B, as shown in FIG. 10b. 
Accordingly, the second conventional rear signal lamp 40 may also illuminate the boundary 49 located between the first signal lamp 41A and the second signal lamp 41B by using each of the two light guide plates 46A and 47A of the first signal lamp 41A and the second signal lamp 41B. However, each of the first light guide plate 46A and the second light guide plate 46B needs to reflect each of the lights toward the first inner cover 44A and the second inner cover 44B while reflecting each of parts of the lights toward the boundary 49 by using the rear surface and the front surface thereof, respectively. Therefore, the second conventional rear signal lamp 40 may also be subject to a complex structure, and also it may become difficult for the conventional rear signal lamp 40 to control the lights by using each of the first light guide plate 46A and the second light guide plate 46B in order to provide a favorable light distribution in accordance with each of kinds of the vehicles.
The above-referenced Patent Documents are listed below, and are hereby incorporated with their English abstracts in their entireties.
1. Patent Document No. 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid Open JP2012-123977
2. Patent Document No. 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid Open JP2014-123547
The disclosed subject matter has been devised to consider the above and other problems, features, and characteristics. Thus, embodiments of the disclosed subject matter can include vehicle signal lamps with a simple structure, which is attached continuously to an openable and closable trunk lid and a part of a vehicle body located adjacent the trunk lid, and which can illuminate even a space caused by a boundary between the trunk lid and the part of the vehicle body. Therefore, the disclosed subject matter can provide the vehicle signal lamps that can be used for a tail lamp, a stop lamp, a turn signal lamp and the like, which are attached to a rear right and left of vehicles, and which do not cause and/or are designed to prevent some of the above-described problems, concerns, and characteristics related to a lighting of the boundary.